to come up with a plan to avert the fiscal cliff. with prospects still murky for a deal before year's end, what can government workers, wall street investors and taxpayers expect if lawmakers miss the deadline? for that, we turn to stacy palmer, editor of the chronicle of philanthropy. jackie simon, public policy director of the american federation of government employees. and hugjohnson, who runs an investment and advisory firm in albany, new york. you all represent different constituencies. i want to start with you, jackie. -- sorry, i want to start with you, stacy, and talk about philanthropy. this is the end of the year when people are making their decisions about whether they're going to get tax breaks or who they're going to give to. are people looking at the fiscal cliff and saying "i don't know"? >> absolutely. people are uncertain as to whether there's going to be a charitable deduction next year, things like the estate tax will change. so it's a rocky time. so some people are giving more and deciding "i'm going to get the t